The proposed arrangement of equipment to be installed on a conventional oil tanker will limit the outflow of the carried oil from a damaged oil tank.
The installed equipment consisting of a heavy rolled cable reinforced rubberized sheeting curtain would be drawn over the holed tank or tanks by deck-located cables and tightly secured by winches. This action would be accomplished manually and by power winches. This action would be taken when an accident occurred. It is possible that the deployment of the oil limiting curtains could be automatic. Since the oil tank pressure and the adjacent sea water pressure is essentially equal after tank rupture had occurred, oil flow from the tank with a curtain firmly in place would be kept at a minimum. As can be seen in the attached drawing, a rolled enclosed curtain could be located along the ship keel for an "upward draw." An alternate location for the rolled curtain could be at deck level for a "downward draw" by control cables coming up to the deck on the ship center line. Rupture leakage control curtains are required for each of the ship tanks for control of tank leakage.